this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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All U.S. Social Security numbers may need to be changed following a massive breach that is already being investigated as a national threat (www.ecoticias.com)
submitted 2 days ago by Cnote5@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
159 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

According to a protected disclosure filed with the Office of Special Counsel, Borges told the Government Accountability Project that DOGE officials working at Social Security created a “live copy” of the country’s Social Security records in a separate cloud environment that sidestepped usual security checks.

The group says those lapses put the Social Security information of more than 300 million Americans at risk.

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[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I’ve been saying this for literal years now. They should release a publicly searchable database of every single SSN, name, and DOB. Force organizations to stop using those as a form of ID, because they’re not secure and never have been.

Give it like a year of lead time. Like announce “March 1 2027, we’ll post the database” and then that gives institutions a full year to figure something new out.

[–] Void@feddit.nu 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

This is the reality in some other countries. In Sweden, our "SSN" is our date of birth followed by four numbers that have different meanings depending on when you were born. During the period I was born it was an area code, and a binary of male/female and a control number. This has changed over time to not be exactly the same for newer generations. All of this information is available publicly to search for through our version of the IRS that then trickles out to various private companies that just publish it out right.

I personally have a dislike for this system, as I am a major privacy enjoyer. But people can't really do anything with the information if they had it. If someone looks up my name and SSN, they have it, but can't bring me harm.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why not photos too? jfc.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 22 hours ago

All this data and more is publicly available in many countries.

[–] psoul@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

And your mother’s maiden name